Muslim clerics issue fatwa against singer Nahid Afrin

Guwahati: Up-coming teenage singer Nahid Afrin has been threatened by no less than forty-six Muslim clerics from the state through a fatwa issued against her.

Nahid made her Bollywood debut singing for Sonakshi Sinha in the 2016 film ‘Akira’

Nahid was the first runner-up in the 2015 season of a musical reality TV show. The Muslim clerics have asked Nahid to stop performing in public.

However, state chief minister Sarbanand Sonawal has assured security to the singer and has said that all possbile measures would be in place to ensure the safety of the girl.

According to a senior police official, investigations were on to ascertain whether the fatwa was a reaction to Nahid recently performing songs against terrorism, including the Islamic State terror group.

According to reports, leaflets bearing the fatwa in Assamese and the names of the clerics were distributed across Hojai and Nagaon districts in central Assam on Tuesday.

In the said fatwa it was stated that in a programme scheduled on March 25 at Udali Sonai Bibi College in Lanka, Assam, where Nahid is scheduled to perform is “against the Sharia”.

“If anti-Sharia acts like musical nights are held on grounds surrounded by masjids, idgahs, madrassas and graveyards, our future generations will attract the wrath of Allah,” it said.

The young singer, a Class X student who lives in Biswanath Chariali, broke down on hearing news of the fatwa. “I am speechless. I think my music is God’s gift to me. I will never bow down to it (such warnings) and never leave singing,” she said.

Nahid made her Bollywood debut singing for Sonakshi Sinha in the 2016 film ‘Akira’.